We took the kids down to Williamsburg and Busch Gardens for a couple of days this spring break. Because our oldest is now in kindergarten, this year was our first experience traveling at the same exact time to roughly the places as everyone else in the DC metro area.

Ugh.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me that other families might have the same idea. I spent three days in continuous awe at how many people were out and about-- and it all started about 20 minutes after leaving the house when we got on 95 South.

There was traffic and long lines and car spills and weird smells and more than a few tears. But lots of laughs too. I'll skip to the end and say it was a great trip and I'm glad we did it.

Brian and I brushed up on our American history and marveled at all of the old time-y stuff.

The kids? Well, for a group who routinely asks at adult birthday parties whether or not the person was alive when the dinosaurs were around, I should have known that the colonial era would be a bit out of their grasp.

Instead, here's their list of memorable moments...

The pull-out couch in the hotel room. Fascinating! How DID they get a whole bed in there?!
The tram taking us from the parking lot to front gates of Busch Gardens. Amazing! A bus with no doors or windows?! We could have just ridden this around the parking lot all day and saved some $$$.
Ketchup-dunked calamari. This rare delicacy isn't offered in any of their otherwise favorite Falls Church restaurants. It's simply delicious-- and incredibly similar to everything else they eat.
Horse poop, horse poop everywhere! Great for acting grossed out and then making a game out of jumping over the piles.
And, what was the BEST part of the trip? Playing in the street, of course! (The main road down the center of Williamsburg is closed to traffic.) Apparently, all our kids ever wanted to do in life was run in the road. Heartening.

Here are a couple of my pictures...